Licensing

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the level of (a) applications for and (b) grants of licences for the sale of alcohol over 24 hours in Wales.

Peter Hain: I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues about matters affecting Wales. Despite numerous ill-founded predictions in the run up to implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, relatively few premises applied for permission to sell alcohol over 24 hours and only a minority of these have been pubs, nightclubs or bars.
	Figures provided by DCMS indicate that an estimated 80 per cent. of applications made by pubs, nightclubs or bars, to vary licences resulted in the imposition of conditions (eg restriction of opening times, use of plastic glasses). In over 95 per cent. of cases that led to a hearing, Licensing Committees responded to residents' concerns by adding conditions and/or adjusting hours.
	Early indications show that we are moving towards a genuine pattern of variety in opening and closing hours.

Ministerial Activities

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits he has made since 5 May 2005; and how many letters he sent in this period.

Peter Hain: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. With regard to letters, the Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137140WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House. The report for 2005 will be published in due course.

Police Restructuring

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he plans to meet the Welsh police authorities to discuss the proposed restructuring of Welsh police authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: Following the recommendations of Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary, last week my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary gave notice of his intention to merge the existing police forces in Wales, creating a single strategic force. In accordance with sections 32 and 33 of the Police Act 1996 these police authorities, local authorities and chief constables have until 2 July to raise objections.
	It is imperative that there is full and open dialogue between the Government and key stakeholders. Negotiations on amalgamation will continue and I trust that the authorities will use this statutory period to agree the best deal possible for Wales. I will of course continue to discuss these issues with police authority members in Wales as appropriate.

Wind Farms

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has had discussions recently with the Welsh Assembly Government on the scale of proposed wind farm developments in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: I have regular discussions with Assembly colleagues on a range of matters, including wind farms.
	I understand that in Neath Port Talbot there is currently one wind farm under construction and one at the planning stage. Ffynnon Oer, when built, will have a capacity of 32 MW. Mynydd y Gwrhyd in Pontardawe would be 14 MW and is undergoing a planning appeal.
	The Assembly Government's Technical Advice Note 8 identifies a number of strategic locations around Wales suitable for onshore wind developments. Parts of Neath Port Talbot are covered by Pontardawe and Coed Morgannwg TAN8 Strategic Search Areas.

Polio (India)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether he expects the wild poliomyelitis virus to be eradicated in India in 2006.

Gareth Thomas: Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis (GCC) criteria state that countries can only be certified as polio free when they can demonstrate the absence of wild poliovirus transmission for at least three consecutive years in the presence of excellent surveillance. We expect India, one of only four remaining polio-endemic countries in the world, to interrupt transmission of the virus in 2006 and be certified polio free in 2009.
	The India Expert Advisory Group on polio eradication (IEAG) meeting in December 2005, attended by officials from the Department for International Development (DFID) reported that India has made its most important progress towards eradication to date in 2005. As a result of an intense eradication programme, polio cases in India fell by 50 per cent. in 2005 to 66; the lowest annual total ever, from 134 cases in 2004 (and 35,000 cases in 1995). Innovative immunisation, surveillance and community mobilisation approaches have reduced polio to its lowest geographical extent ever, with cases occurring mostly in western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Bihar. However, the recent onset of cases (seven confirmed so far in 2006) has demonstrated that progress is fragile and that strong political and financial commitment will be essential to finishing the job.

Public Service Pensions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the note on the Total Liability of Unfunded Public Service Occupational Pension Schemes published on 2 March 2006, what the impact on total liability would have been if all unfunded state pension schemes had adopted the real discount rate of 2.4 per cent.

Des Browne: The Government's latest estimate of the total liability of unfunded public service pensions has been provided in the answer I gave on the Floor of the House on 2 March to the hon. Member for Ludlow. This was based on the discount rates used to draw up the relevant scheme accounts and full details are set out in the paper I placed in the Library of the House. Applying different discount rates would produce different estimates of the total liability but this would not affect the size of future cash payments.

Manchester Metrolink

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received in the past six months regarding the proposed extension of the Metrolink network in Greater Manchester.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 7 March 2006
	Since 1 September 2005, 11 letters including four from hon. Members were received by the Department in relation to the proposed extensions to the Metrolink system. 12 parliamentary questions directly relating to the subject (including this question) were asked during the same period.

Railway Stations (Defibrillators)

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which railway stations have defibrillator machines; what steps are being taken to increase the number of stations equipped with defibrillator machines; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 6 March 2006
	I have been asked to reply.
	The NHS Plan published in July 2000 outlined a proposal to provide 3,000 automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public places as part of a 300 million investment in new equipment for the national health service. Phase 1 of the national defibrillator programme undertook installation of 681 AEDs across 110 public sites.
	85 AEDs were installed at London underground stations and 267 were installed at train stations as part of Phase 1 of the programme. Table one lists the location of sites and the numbers of AEDs installed:
	
		Table 1
		
			 Site Number of AEDs 
		
		
			 Leeds Station 7 
			 Euston Station 5 
			 Liverpool Street Station 7 
			 Manchester Piccadilly Station 9 
			 Birmingham New Street Station 7 
			 Waterloo Station Waterloo International 12 
			 Victoria Station 16 
			 Earl's Court LUL Station 3 
			 Reading Station 5 
			 Coventry Station 3 
			 York Station 4 
			 Stansted Express 2 
			 London Bridge Station 8 
			 Sheffield Station 5 
			 Exeter St. David Station 3 
			 Bristol Templemeads Station 3 
			 Plymouth Station 3 
			 Barnsley Interchange 4 
			 Crewe Station 6 
			 Preston Station 5 
			 Stockport Station 3 
			 Euro Tunnel, Folkestone 7 
			 Peterborough Station 2 
			 Paddington Station 12 
			 Luton Airport Parkway Station 2 
			 King's Cross Station 5 
			 Newcastle Central Station 3 
			 Charing Cross Station 4 
			 Ipswich Station 2 
			 Blackfriars Station 3 
			 Doncaster Station 3 
			 Norwich Station 1 
			 Liverpool Lime Street 4 
			 London Marylebone 2 
			 Birmingham International Station 3 
			 Birmingham Snow Hill Station 3 
			 Bristol Parkway Station 2 
			 Clapham Junction Station 9 
			 Didcot Parkway Station 3 
			 Oxford Station 3 
			 Chelmsford Station 2 
			 Ilford Station 3 
			 Romford Station 4 
			 Hull Paragon Station 4 
			 Wakefield West Gate Station 2 
			 Carlisle Station 3 
			 Lancaster Station 3 
			 Warrington Bank Quay Station 2 
			 Wigan Station 3 
			 Huddersfield Stn 2 
			 Billericay Stn 1 
			 Manchester Victoria Station 5 
			 Cambridge Station 2 
			 Nottingham Station 4 
			 Brighton Station 2 
			 Darlington Station 1 
			 Grantham Station 2 
			 Baker Street LUL Station 8 
			 Liverpool Street LUL Station 6 
			 Charing Cross LUL Station 8 
			 Newark North Gate Station 2 
			 Oxford Circus LUL Station 6 
			 Golders Green LUL Station 3 
			 Kennington LUL Station 4 
			 Stratford Station 7 
			 Stratford LUL Station 2 
			 Bank/Monument LUL Station 13 
			 Victoria LUL Station 5 
			 Shenfield Station 3 
			 Colchester Station 3 
			 Haywards Heath Stn 2 
			 King's Cross LUL Station 6 
			 East Croydon 3 
			 Queen's Park Station 2 
			 Euston LUL Station 5 
			 Waterloo LUL Station 12 
			 Watford Junction Station 5 
			 Fenchurch Street Station 3 
			 Paddington LUL Station 4 
			 Gatwick Airport Station 2 
		
	
	National defibrillator programmePhase 2
	In 2001, the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) agreed to provide 110 million to tackle Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and stroke, 6 million of this funding was allocated to the national defibrillator programme.
	The British Heart Foundation was made the award partner in October 2003 by the BLF for the funding of the national defibrillator programme in England. The funding has provided a further 2,300 AEDs in the community together with funding for a community defibrillation officer within each ambulance trust to co-ordinate programme activities.
	A total of 12 AEDs have been allocated to ambulance trusts to install at London underground stations and 31 AEDs have been allocated to ambulance trusts to install at railway stations for the second phase of the programme.
	Table two lists the location of sites and the numbers of AEDs to be installed:
	
		Table 2
		
			 Site Number of AEDs 
		
		
			 Oxenholme Railway Station 2 
			 Bournemouth Railway Station 1 
			 Poole Railway Station 1 
			 Dorchester Railway Station 1 
			 Weymouth Railway Station 1 
			 Cheltenham station 1 
			 Gloucester station 1 
			 Stroud station 1 
			 Herefordshire Railway Station 1 
			 Skegness Railway Station 1 
			 Lincoln Railway Station 1 
			 Boston Railway Station 1 
			 Grimsby Railway Station 1 
			 Scunthorpe Railway Centre 1 
			 Bond Street London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Camden Town London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Cannon Street London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Embankment London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Farringdon London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Green Park London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Hammersmith London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Leicester Square London Underground Ltd 1 
			 London Bridge London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Moorgate London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Notting Hill Gate London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Tottenham Court Road London Underground Ltd 1 
			 Cannon Street Station 1 
			 Elephant and Castle Station 1 
			 Farringdon Station 1 
			 Maghull Railway Station 1 
			 Birkenhead Park Railway Station 1 
			 Winsford Railway Station 1 
			 Southport Railway Station 1 
			 Central Station, Cheshire 1 
			 Guildford Train Station 1 
			 Farnborough British Rail Station 1 
			 Epsom British Rail Station 1 
			 Birmingham International Railway Station 1 
			 New Street Railway Station 1 
			 Shrewsbury Train Station 1 
			 Telford Train Station 1 
			 Wellington Train Station 1

Written Parliamentary Questions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Leader of the House if he will arrange for answers to hon. Members' written parliamentary questions to be provided electronically.

Geoff Hoon: In written evidence to the Procedure Committee on 9 February 2006, I outlined that the electronic parliamentary community database (ePC) which allows for the electronic answering of questions between Government Departments and offices within the House of Commons is currently being reviewed by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons.
	It remains my intention that, in consultation with the House authorities, we should work towards allowing hon. Members to receive answers to their parliamentary questions electronically if they wish.

Art Exports (Canaletto)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions there have been between her Department and the Treasury concerning saving the two Canalettos of historic scenes in London from being sold abroad.

James Purnell: holding answer 6 March 2006
	There have been no discussions between DCMS and the Treasury concerning saving the two Canalettos of historic scenes in London from being sold abroad.
	These paintings were considered by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, which concluded that they satisfied the Waverley criteria. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has deferred her decision on the application for an export licence to enable an offer to purchase to be made at the fair market price of 6 million. The owner is considering such an offer and the deferral period will now run until 20 June.

St. Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how much her Department has spent supplying BBC television to residents of St. Helena for each of the last eight years;
	(2)  how much has been collected via television licensing fees from St. Helena in each of the last eight years.

James Purnell: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not supply any television services to St. Helena and has not therefore incurred any expenditure on such services in the last eight years.
	No television licence fee revenue is collected in St. Helena, as the television licensing provisions of the Communications Act 2003 do not extend to the territory, nor does St. Helena operate its own television licensing regime.

Antisocial Behaviour

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how much was provided to local authorities to tackle antisocial behaviour in (a) Swindon and (b) England in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to tackle (i) antisocial behaviour and (ii) antisocial behaviour outside nightclubs and public houses in Swindon; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Tackling antisocial behaviour is a cross-departmental issue and many Government Departments contribute to this agenda. A wide range of funding streams across Government have a positive impact on tackling antisocial behaviour. For example Neighbourhood Renewal programmes which focus on the most deprived areas and give practitioners and local communities a real opportunity to turn their neighbourhoods around; DFES through their work on schools and parenting contribute to preventing problems escalating and ensuring families get the support they need; DEFRA and their work in tackling litter and fly tipping which can often blight neighbourhoods where antisocial behaviour and crime can take hold; and DCMS who provide the opportunity to divert young people from the destructive and damaging involvement in antisocial behaviour. The Department for Constitutional Affairs also contributes to ensure a swift and effective criminal justice system for dealing with the perpetrators of antisocial behaviour activity. In 200506, the Home Office has allocated 75,000 to Swindon to tackle antisocial behaviour. 40,000 has been used to fund Operation Graffitia multi-agency initiative to tackle environmental crime and specifically the issue of graffiti. 10,000 has been used to implement the Its Your Call Anti Social Behaviour reporting line and ensure that it is resourced between 9 am and 5 pm during week days. 25,000 has been used to work with the most anti social families. The Home Office has specifically allocated 25,000 to every Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in both England and Wales to fund an antisocial behaviour co-ordinator. This amounts to 9.4 million per annum. We have already provided guidance and support to local agencies including local authorities to help them to target resources and powers to protect the public and ensure that antisocial behaviour is tackled, not tolerated. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 has been fundamental to our work which has changed the culture of public services and protected our communities. However, while attitudes are shifting, the public's concern is not yet adequately reflected in the priorities of all our services. The Respect Programme will now take this further so that local services are organised so that they respond swiftly and effectively to the problems that communities face today. People need to see and feel that a difference can be made. Swindon received 3,000 from the Police Standards Unit as part of the third Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign (AMEC). A number of local initiatives are underway to disperse people in antisocial behaviour hotspots in the town centre, including the proposed closure of John Street and patrols of licensed premises. The Government are determined to target those individuals whose abuse of alcohol results in causing disorder in our towns and cities. We have recently undertaken our third Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign to crack down on such behaviour. We have also introduced a range of new powers through the Licensing Act 2003 to deal with the problems of alcohol misuse. In addition, the Violent Crime Reduction Bill will introduce a new civil ordera Drinking Banning Orderwhich will allow for the exclusion from the area concerned of individuals aged 16 or over who are responsible for alcohol-related disorder.

Child Protection

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1714W, if he will make it his policy (a) to ensure that records are maintained of offenders who are given a caution for possession of indecent photographs of children and (b) to prevent such offenders from working with children in the future; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 8 March 2006
	The Circular which sets out guidance on the Cautioning of Adult Offenders emphasises the importance of accurately recording cautions in order to avoid multiple cautioning and to ensure consistency. Cautions must be recorded on the local custody system as well as on national information systems and those given for a recordable offence must be entered on the Police National Computer.
	Under the current Association of Chief Police Officers General Rules for Criminal Weeding on Police Systems, a caution received for possession of indecent photographs of children should be removed after ten years provided there are no convictions on the record and no further cautions have been given. The Secretary of State for Education currently has the power (under s. 142 of the Education Act 2002) to make a direction barring or restricting a person from working in the education sector, whether or not a person has been convicted of an offence.
	The list of people subject to such a direction is called List 99. The Secretary of State for Education recently announced that she would be introducing regulations to automatically enter on List 99 anyone who is convicted or cautioned for a sexual offence against a child. At present, convictions (but not cautions) relating to indecent photos of children under 16 constitute automatic barring offences for List 99. It has not yet been decided which offences will trigger automatic barring under the new Regulations, but the cautioning guidance will be changed as appropriate when the Regulations come into force.

Drug Treatment Programmes

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in each of the 10 most deprived constituencies in England and Wales have undertaken drug treatment programmes.

Caroline Flint: Deprivation data is available by local authority (LA) but not be constituency. Using the six district level summary measures of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 the table takes the top 10 most deprived LAs from each of the six measures to identify a list of 22. Some LAs are included only in one measure, and no single summary measure is favoured over another.
	The table uses the latest numbers in treatment from drug action teams (DAT) for 200405 taken from the national drug monitoring system.
	
		
			 Deprived LA fin alphabetical order) Number in treatment in 200405 
		
		
			 Birmingham 4,462 
			 Blackpool 1,406 
			 Bradford 3,267 
			 Easington (5) 
			 Hackney 1,180 
			 Haringey 1,022 
			 Islington 1,495 
			 Kingston upon Hull 1,389 
			 Knowsley 821 
			 Leeds 3,627 
			 Liverpool 3,738 
			 Manchester 3,374 
			 Middlesbrough 1,157 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 1,425 
			 Newham 859 
			 Nottingham 1,702 
			 Salford 1,553 
			 Sheffield 1,932 
			 Sunderland 758 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,204 
			 Wigan 1,525 
			 Wirral 2,464 
		
	
	(5) No numbers availableEasington Primary Care Trust does not have a DAT of the same name. County Durham is the local DAT for Easington, where the numbers in treatment for 200405 was 1,204.

Life Expectancy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has evaluated on the impact of burglary on elderly victims; and whether this included research on the impact on life expectancy.

Fiona Mactaggart: In 2003, two studies were completed that dealt with the impact of burglary on older victims: Experiences of older burglary victims and Distraction burglary amongst older adults and minority ethnic communities. Both provide some evidence of the impact these crimes can have on the health and quality of life of older people.
	As partnership working is vital to combat this particularly distasteful crime, a development and practice report was also published in 2003, Older victims of burglary and distraction burglaryrecommendations for practitioners, drew from the research in the findings report to give guidance to practitioners who work with older and vulnerable groups. Police, local authorities, voluntary groups and other relevant agencies are increasingly working together to address and reduce victimisation of the more vulnerable members of society.

Police

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will provide additional resources to equalise the impact on the police precepts in each of the four police authority areas in Wales in the event of the establishment of a single Welsh police force;
	(2)  what arrangements he plans to put in place to tackle the potential for unequal impacts on the police precepts in different authorities in Wales following the establishment of a single Welsh police force.

Hazel Blears: A working group led by my Department with participation from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Welsh Assembly Government, HM Treasury and police representative bodies has been established to examine the financial aspects of reorganisation, including the impact of restructuring on finance, including precept.

Spray Paints

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will raise the age for buying spray paints to 18 years.

Hazel Blears: The Government are keen to improve the accountability between the police, local authorities and other service providers and the public. The Community Call for Action provisions contained in the Police and Justice Bill will give more power to local communities and provide a mechanism for local communities to demand a response from agencies to persistent local community safety or antisocial behaviour problems, via an approach to their ward councillor. The Respect programme will ensure effective dialogue between local people and services by introducing regular and systematic face the people briefing sessions, involving senior representation from the police and local authorities. These sessions will provide a further opportunity for communities to make clear their priorities and to hold those responsible for service delivery to account.
	They will also allow senior staff to engage the community in tackling local problems, raising issues where they can take action to help combat antisocial behaviour, including graffiti. In addition to this, the Home Office, in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, is developing a new three digit single non-emergency number to provide the public direct access to community safety advice, information and action to tackle antisocial behaviour, including graffiti. The Government's commitment towards neighbourhood policing will benefit every area by 2008, enabling graffiti to be tackled as a priority when local communities identify this as one of their key concerns.

Student Visas

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the arrangements will be for the points system proposed to replace the current overseas student visa system.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office command paper A Points-Based System: Making Migration Work for Britain was published on 7 March 2006 and is available on the IND website (www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk). This detailed our plans for a point-based system to replace all current routes for migrants wishing to enter the UK to work, train or study. The new system will be introduced in a phased manner and we will be testing the processes that underpin the proposals before any firm implementation dates are announced.

EU Funding

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department received from the EU in 200405; how much was paid to farmers in each category of payment; how much was used for administration; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: In 200405 the department's income from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) was 2.5 billion, its expenditure under schemes wholly or partly funded by EAGGF was 2.9 billion and the total administration costs of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) was 249 million. In addition, the department reclaimed 0.8 billion on behalf of the other UK CAP Paying Agencies. Full details are available in RPA's 200405 accounts (HC 82), presented to Parliament in July 2005.
	Defra's Fisheries Directorate received three amounts from the EU. 1.4 million was received under Data Collection Regulations (EU Regulations 1543/2000, 1639/2001 and 1581/2004) for the funding of scientific work, such as surveys carried out at sea and biological sampling. Under an EU Aid scheme in which all Member States can apply for funding towards their fisheries enforcement control programmes (Commission Decision 2004/465/EC as amended) the Marine Fisheries Agency (formally the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate) received 0.6 million. Under the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) Defra received 6.2 million.
	Defra's EU  International Agriculture Division received 296,000 to cover the costs of an EU twinning project.
	Defra's Animal Health and Welfare Directorate General received a payment of 286,885 in respect of Classical Swine Fever. Additionally, while not received in the financial year 200405, included in the Department's 200405 Accounts is an accrued sum of 4,367,441 income from the EU Veterinary Fund as contribution towards the cost of genotyping blood samples for the National Scrapie Plan, the actual funding of which was received in 200506.

GM Crops

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received regarding GM crops, with particular reference to the developing world.

Elliot Morley: My ministerial colleagues and I receive regular representations from a wide variety of stakeholders on a on a broad range of issues related to GM crops and their possible cultivation in the UK.
	With regard to the Government's policy on the use of GM crops in developing countries, this is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development.

Risk Assessment

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will take steps to create a tool to allow advisory committees to deal consistently with risk assessment.

Ben Bradshaw: We are fully in support of the development of more systematic tools to enable better risk assessment. We are encouraging academia to come forward with innovative ideas for dealing with risk and uncertainty as instanced by a recent call, supported by DEFRA by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for research proposals 1 . These new tools will take some time to develop and we have to note the caution expressed by the Treasury that risk assessment methodologies can be highly specialised and specific to the nature of the risk 2 . Thus advisory committees have to work with the risk assessment methodologies that pertain to their particular risk portfolios which may not be tractable to any single systematic tool.
	1 Scientific Uncertainty and Decision Making for Regulatory and Risk Assessment Purposes Sandpit on January 2006, Shrigley Hall, Pott Shrigley, nr Macclesfield
	The assessment and decision making processes within environmental, health, food and engineering sectors pose numerous challenges. Uncertainty is a fundamental characteristic of these problems. How do we account for all the uncertainties in the complex models and analyses that inform decision makers? How can those uncertainties be communicated simply but qualitatively to decision makers? How should decision makers use those uncertainties when combining the scientific evidence with more socio-economic considerations? And how can decisions be communicated so that the proper acknowledgement of uncertainty is transparent?
	2 ht1p://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/3E3/EE/managingrisks_ appraisal220705.pdf

Special Protection Areas

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, column 1359W, on special protection areas, if she will list the sites that (a) her Department has designated and (b) English Nature has recommended as special protection areas.

Jim Knight: There are currently 77 classified Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in England and additionally, one cross-border SPA with Scotland and two cross-border SPAs with Wales, all of which have been recommended by English Nature. Further information on the individual sites is available from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee's website (http://www.jncc.gov.uk.).
	There are currently two sites which English Nature has recommended should be classified as SPAs, which are currently under consideration by Defra. These are Mersey Narrows and North Wirral Foreshore, and Breckland.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to ascertain the condition of flood defences in the Thames Gateway where this is unknown.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency (EA) is the principal operating authority for flood risk management in England and has a general supervisory duty over all matters relating to flood defence.
	The national flood and coastal defence database, which is being developed by the EA in partnership with other operating authorities, will record the location, height and condition of all flood defences in England. I understand the database does not yet contain full information on Thames estuary tidal defences but that this information will be in place by the end of March 2006. The EA uses the database, together with locally held information, to prioritise a risk based rolling programme of flood defence inspection, maintenance and renewals. They estimate that 200 million will be spent on maintenance and operation of Thames estuary flood defences over the next 15 years.

Urban Green Spaces

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Deputy Prime Minister on the contribution of urban green spaces to the protection of ecosystems.

Jim Knight: This Government have taken forward a number of initiatives to enhance urban green space, and, in general, the quality of urban green space has improved.
	Measures to continue this trend are regularly discussed with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and other departments at official level. In particular, Defra continues to promote policies to protect these spaces for their wildlife interest and to improve their wider recreation and health benefits.

Legal Services Commission

Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of the decision by the Legal Services Commission to withdraw funding for access to specialist and complex legal advice in Wirral South.

Bridget Prentice: The Legal Services Commission's (LSC) specialist support services provide support to front-line advice and not directly to vulnerable people in any specific part of England and Wales.
	Given the pressure on the limited legal aid budget and the number of clients needing legal advice, the LSC has concluded that the costs of this would be better redirected to fund direct legal advice in the next financial year. This will increase access to legal aid services for vulnerable people.

Iran

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether Iran's Government has made a political decision to acquire a nuclear weapons capability; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Iranian authorities state that they have no intention to develop nuclear weapons. But the nature of Iran's nuclear programme, its history of concealment and inadequate co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the unexplained involvement of the Iranian military in the nuclear programme, and its failure to take confidence-building steps have all contributed to international concern that the intentions of the programme may not be exclusively peaceful.
	In his most recent report, the IAEA Director-General said that the Agency was not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran. He also said that this conclusion can be expected to take even longer than normal to arrive at in light of the undeclared nature of Iran's past nuclear programme, the inadequacy of information available on Iran's centrifuge enrichment programme, the existence of a generic document related to the fabrication of nuclear weapon components, and the lack of clarification of the role of the military in Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress by Iran towards uranium enrichment since its cessation of the suspension in January; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report of 27 February notes that
	on 3 January 2006, Iran informed the Agency that it had decided to resume, as from 9 January 2006, those RD on the peaceful nuclear energy programme which had been suspended as part of its expanded voluntary and non-legally binding suspension.
	It goes on to say that
	on 11 February 2006, Iran started enrichment tests by feeding a single P-l machine with UF6 gas. At that time, other single P-l machines were ready for operation and a 10-machine cascade was undergoing vacuum tests. The feeding of the 10-machine cascade was begun on 15 February 2006, and, on 22 February 2006, a 20-machine cascade was subjected to vacuum testing.

Middle East

Celia Barlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Israel on ending (a) the use of occupied territories for settlements and roads and (b) the construction of the wall in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Kim Howells: Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv last raised our concerns about settlements and impact of the barrier in East Jerusalem with the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 19 December 2005.
	Settlements are illegal under international law and settlement construction is an obstacle to peace. The Roadmap is clear that Israel should freeze all settlement construction including the natural growth of existing settlements, and dismantle all outposts built since 2001.
	We also fully recognise Israel's right to self-defence. A barrier is a reasonable way to achieve this. But the barrier's route should be on or behind the Green Line, and not on occupied territory. Construction of the barrier on Palestinian land is illegal. The route is particularly damaging around East Jerusalem, as it risks cutting the city off from the West Bank and dividing the West Bank in two.
	We will continue to raise our concerns over the settlements and the barrier with the Israeli Government at all levels.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what role he is playing in providing mediation between the National Unity Government of Sudan and representatives of the Eastern Front.

Ian Pearson: The Government of Sudan and the Eastern Front, the main rebel grouping in Eastern Sudan, were scheduled to begin negotiations in Sirte, Libya, on 7 February. On 6 February, the Eastern Front announced that they would not participate in these talks. The Eastern Front are currently holding internal discussions on their position. We are in regular contact with the Eastern Front and the Government of Sudan and are pressing them to begin negotiations at the earliest opportunity.
	We continue to urge both sides to exercise restraint and to negotiate a political settlement within the framework of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and have offered our assistance in finding a suitable venue and mediator for the talks. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, and my noble Friend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, met the Sudanese Foreign Minister, Dr. Lam Akol, on 3 February and pressed Dr. Akol on the need to reach a swift agreement with the Eastern Front.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 763W, on Afghanistan, what steps he is taking to prevent warlords from gaining influence or support following efforts to eradicate opium production in Afghanistan.

Kim Howells: I have been asked to reply.
	As stated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 26 January 2006, Official Report, columns 152933, the UK will support the Afghan Government's objectives by pursuing activities along governance, security, economic and social development and counter-narcotics lines. We will be seeking to support the development of provincial government and law enforcement capacity, including in Helmand province where British troops will be deployed. UK activities will include capacity building for the centrally-appointed Provincial Governor, and the Afghan National Army and Afghan national police forces. This will help to support the legitimate democratic processes, and reduce the negative influence of warlords.
	We are also supporting capacity building within national Afghan counter-narcotics law enforcement agencies and criminal justice agencies charged with targeting and bringing major traffickers and drugs lords to justice. Since May 2005, over 90 drug traffickers have been convicted.
	Separately on eradication, we are working with the Government of Afghanistan to ensure that eradication is properly targeted against the greedy and not the needy. The Department for International Development is spending 130 million over the three financial years to 2008 to help build more sustainable legal income-generating opportunities for the rural population. We are helping the Government of Afghanistan develop and deliver an eradication information campaign, which explains the reasons behind eradication and the detrimental effects caused by those trying to undermine the Government's efforts to tackle the opium industry.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what impact the deployment of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory staff to Iraq has had on the work of the Laboratory in the UK.

Adam Ingram: Supporting operations, including those in Iraq, is one of DSTL's principal roles: since its formation in 2001 the laboratory has continuously supported a wide range of operations both overseas and for homeland security. This capability is based on DSTL's ability to draw on the entire organisations ST base to provide the best advice and solutions. Supporting operations is afforded a high priority, and the short-notice and fluctuating nature of the demand means that it has to be managed in consultation with DSTL's MOD customers.

Discharged Personnel (Social Housing)

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his assessment is of the ability of service personnel (a) in each service and (b) of each rank to afford (i) a mortgage and (ii) privately-rented accommodation on discharge.

Don Touhig: holding answer 6 March 2006
	The ability to afford mortgage repayments or rental charges obviously depends on individual circumstances. Because of this, a detailed assessment of affordability by rank and service cannot be made. However, we provide an excellent pay and pension package for service personnel, together with extensive advice on housing options and an interest-free loan scheme.

Infantry Regiments

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the recruitment figures for each of the Scottish infantry regiments were for each month in 2005; and how many of those who completed their training went to the regiment of their choice.

Don Touhig: holding answer 3 March 2006
	The Army does not recruit soldiers into particular regiments but instead recruit to the three infantry career employment groups (Line, Para and the Guards). While some soldier recruits specify a particular Preferred Capbadge on enlisting, infantry personnel are not recruited into or allocated a regiment until near completion of their training. Officers are allocated an arm/service/regiment during or on completion of their commission course at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). Therefore the following table shows the gains to the trained strength of the six Scottish infantry regiments in each month during 2003.
	
		Trained intake of officers and soldiers into the Infantry Scottish Division during 2003
		
			 Date of flow Unspecified RS RHF KOSB BW HLDRS A  SH Total 
		
		
			 2003 
			 January 55 (15) (15) (16) (15) (15) (16) 65 
			 February (15) 5 (15) (15) (15) 5 5 25 
			 March (15) (15) 5 5 10 (16) 10 35 
			 April 50 5 5 (15) 5 (15) 5 75 
			 May 30 (15) 10 (15) (15) (15) 5 55 
			 June 5 (15) (15) (15) (16) (15) (16) 15 
			 July 10 (15) (15) (15) 10 (16) (15) 25 
			 August (15) 10 10 (15) (15) (15) 5 40 
			 September 5 10 (15) (15) 10 (16) (15) 35 
			 October 5 (15) (15) (15) (15) (15) (15) 20 
			 November 10 5 10 15 20 10 20 90 
			 December 10 5 5 5 5 5 (15) 45 
		
	
	(15) Indicates a non zero value which is less than 5.
	(16) Indicates a value of zero.
	Notes:
	1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.
	2. Figures do not include Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS), Gurkhas or Mobilised Reservists. The information relates to the flows of UK Trained Regular Army Personnel in the Scottish regiments, regardless of whether they serve away from the main body of the regiment, this does not include other arms/services attached to the regiments.
	3. Soldiers joining the infantry are not allocated to a particular regiment until completion of training at the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick). Officers are allocated a regiment on completion of their commissioning course at RMAS. Therefore the table includes those officers and soldiers who joined the Scottish regiments on completion of training. It will also include direct entries to the trained strength, such as trained re-entrants.
	4. The aforementioned figures will include those individuals who have entered the trained strength with an intake code from illegal absence, flowing either from untrained to trained or directly to trained strength. These figures may therefore appear different to other published figures.
	5. The table includes an 'Unspecified' Regiment, this is where soldiers have not yet been assigned to a specific Scots Div Infantry Regiment on their Record of Service.
	6. RSRoyal Scots , RHFRoyal Highland Fusiliers, KOSBKings Own Scottish Borderers, BWBlack Watch, HLDRSHighlanders and A  SHArgyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
	7. Figures exclude colonels and above.
	It is not possible to determine how many personnel went to the regiments of their choice, as this information is not held centrally on the administration system used in the production of these statistics.

Infantry Regiments

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the recruitment targets were for each division of infantry (a) as at 1 January 2003 and (b) in each quarterly since January 2003; and what percentage of the targets have been met.

Don Touhig: holding answer 3 March 2006
	The Army does not recruit soldiers into Infantry Divisions, but instead recruits to the three Infantry Career Employment Groups (Line, Para and the Guards). Officers are only allocated a Regiment on completion of their Commissioning Course at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS). Therefore recruitment figures and targets for Infantry Divisions are unavailable.
	The following table shows the gains to the trained strength of each Infantry Division for each quarter since 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005.
	
		
			 Flows during qtr Footguards Scots Div Queens Div Kings Div POW Div Light Div Para Others Total 
		
		
			 1 January to 31 March 2003 90 120 140 130 140 120 100 20 870 
			 1 April to 30 June 2003 120 140 180 160 180 120 60 40 1,000 
			 1 July to 30 September 2003 200 100 170 150 160 120 80 30 1,020 
			 1 October to 31 December 2003 150 160 160 170 180 120 100 40 1,080 
			 1 January to 31 March 2004 180 120 140 140 160 110 40 30 910 
			 1 April to 30 June 2004 150 160 160 150 150 100 60 30 970 
			 1 July to 30 September 2004 130 120 170 130 180 70 40 30 870 
			 1 October to 31 December 2004 140 140 130 170 130 90 70 20 890 
			 1 January to 31 March 2005 90 60 60 60 70 40 60 (17) 440 
			 1 April to 30 June 2005 110 140 140 130 160 90 50 20 830 
			 1 July to 30 September 2005 130 100 110 110 110 80 70 20 720 
			 1 October to 31 December 2005 70 110 90 110 110 90 40 20 640 
		
	
	(17) Indicates a value of zero or rounded to zero.
	Notes:
	1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts.
	2. Figures do not include Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS), Gurkhas or Mobilised Reservists. The information relates to the flows of UK Trained Regular Army Personnel in the Scottish Regiments, regardless of whether they serve away from the main body of the Regiment, this does not include other Arms/Services attached to the Regiments.
	3. Soldiers joining the Infantry are not allocated to a particular Regiment until completion of training at the Infantry Training Centre (Catterick). Officers are allocated a Regiment on completion of their Commissioning Course at RMAS. Therefore the table includes those officers and soldiers who joined the Scottish Regiments on completion of training. It will also include direct entries to the trained strength, such as trained re-entrants.
	4. The above figures will include those individuals who have entered the trained strength with an intake code from illegal absence, flowing either from untrained to trained or directly to trained strength. These figures may therefore appear different to other published figures.
	5. POW Div=Prince of Wales Division.
	6. 'Other' includes, Royal Irish (General Service), Regular Army Gurkha Officers etc.
	7. Figures exclude Colonels and above.

International Criminal Court

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British military personnel against whom it has been decided in the United Kingdom that no action should be taken may be summoned to appear before the International Criminal Court.

John Reid: The International Criminal Court (ICC) only has jurisdiction over the offences specified in Article 5 of its Statute. The ICC does not replace national courts, as is made clear in paragraph 10 of the Preamble to the ICC Statute. This expressly provides that the Court 'shall be complementary to national criminal jurisdictions'. The Statute makes clear that only if a state is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out an investigation or prosecution will a case be admissible, and unless a case is admissible the Court cannot exercise its jurisdiction. The Statute (Article 17.2) requires the Court to determine 'unwillingness' in a particular case by considering,
	whether one or more of the following exists:
	the proceedings were or are being undertaken or the national decision was made for the purposes of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court; there has been an unjustified delay in the proceedings which in the circumstances is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice;
	the proceedings were not or are not being conducted independently or impartially, and they are or were being conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances, is inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice.
	The Statute (Article 17.3) requires the Court to determine 'inability' in a particular case by considering,
	whether, due to a total or substantial collapse or unavailability of its national judicial system, the state is unable to obtain the accused or the necessary evidence and testimony or otherwise unable to carry on its proceedings.
	A decision to take no further action, whether in relation to investigation or proceedings, and whether taken by investigators, prosecutors or a court, does not in itself imply an unwillingness or inability genuinely to investigate or prosecute.
	The Government do not envisage that circumstances will ever arise in which the ICC would conclude that the UK is unable or unwilling genuinely to investigate or prosecute, and accordingly does not envisage that the ICC will ever exercise jurisdiction over any member of the British armed forces. The ICC prosecutor has also recently decided that there is no reasonable basis to initiate an investigation into UK military operations in Iraq.

Land Mines

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research and development work is being undertaken by his Department on land mines; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Apart from some work to develop a more capable fuse for the UK's in-service anti-tank mine capability, research effort is focused on countering mines and improvised explosive devices. Studies are looking at future methods of providing a counter-mobility capability, but no detailed research into any particular solution is being conducted. The UK is a signatory to the Ottawa convention and has no anti-personnel land mine capability.

Military Code of Conduct

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance is provided to members of the British armed services on the action they should take if they witness criminal acts by members of (a) other national armed forces and (b) UN peacekeeping missions.

Adam Ingram: Our armed forces are trained to respect their disciplinary code and to have respect for the law wherever they are serving. Queens regulations and the armed forces' Values and Standards demand the highest standards of good order, conduct and discipline, and require that individuals carrying out their duties should strive to promote the excellence of their service and show an example to those who are subject to their command. Any incidences of wrongdoing or misconduct, including by other nations' armed forces, should not be condoned and should be reported to the chain of command.

Service Insignia

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the licensing of (a) roundels and (b) other insignia used by the armed forces since the registration of these as trademarks; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: A number of licences for use of MOD marks, including the roundel and other armed forces insignia, have been granted to enable MOD to control use of these marks.
	It is MOD's policy to pursue cases where its Intellectual Property rights have been infringed. Where no use of MOD's Intellectual Property is shown to have occurred, no further action is taken.
	It is assumed that when the question refers to representations, it means the kind of discussions that are part of the normal licensing negotiations. No specific representations have been made regarding MOD's overall policy to prevent mis-use of its Intellectual Property.

Territorial Army

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many officers have (a) been commissioned into and (b) left the Territorial Army (TA), including those transferring to the long term reserve list, in each year since 2001.

Don Touhig: The following table shows the intake and outflow of Territorial Army officers during the period 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2005. October 2003 is the earliest date for which reliable TA inflow and outflow data are available.
	
		Territorial Army (TA) officer flows
		
			  Inflows Outflows 
		
		
			 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2003 130 90 
			 2004 490 650 
			 2005 390 560 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The data exclude full-time reserve service (FTRS), non-regular permanent staff (NRPS) and mobilised TA.
	2. The data are based on flows during the period 1 October 2003 and 31 December 2003, and for the calendar years 2004 and 2005.
	3. The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.
	4. Inflow figures include all inflow e.g. those who have commissioned from the ranks, inflow from the Officer Training Corps, inflow from Regular Army Reserve of Officers (RARO) and intake from civil life. It does not include the inflow of officers returning from mobilisation.
	5. Outflow figures exclude those officers who become mobilised.

Education and Skills Benchmarks

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on developments during the recent British EU Presidency in meeting the five education and skills benchmarks under the Lisbon goals.

Bill Rammell: Achievement of the five education and skills benchmarks is the responsibility of each Member State, through implementation of national education and training strategies. The UK supported progress towards these benchmarks during the Presidency by organising events on the key themes of investment in skills, higher education, adult learning, young people and ICT in schools.
	The 2006 Joint Interim Report from the Council and the Commission, Modernising education and training: a vital contribution to prosperity and social cohesion in Europe, sets out overall EU performance against the five benchmarks and identifies priorities for future cooperation. A copy of the draft report is in the House Library.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what steps are taken to verify financial details given by students applying for education maintenance allowances;
	(2)  how much has been spent on administration of education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme was piloted; and how much is expected to be spent in each year until 200910;
	(3)  whether any further education institution which is in financial difficulty and whose students are eligible for education maintenance allowance is receiving extra funding to enable it to administer the scheme;
	(4)  what non-financial support is given to individual further education institutions in providing the education maintenance allowance;
	(5)  what measures are in place to ensure that students are awarded education maintenance allowance on a consistent basis, with particular reference to (a) attendance, (b) legitimate absence, (c) casual sickness and (d) transport difficulties.

Maria Eagle: These are matters for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES. Mark Haysom the Council's Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

Education Provision (Hendon)

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many free part-time early education places were taken up by three and four-year-olds in Hendon in (a) 200506 and (b) 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two and a half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday. This will increase to 38 weeks from 1 April 2006 and to 15 hours a week by 2010. By that time, parents who wish to do so will also be able to access the free entitlement flexibly across a minimum of three days.
	Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.
	Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-years-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three-year-olds and 568,300 four-year-olds.
	The available information on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Hendon parliamentary constituency area and Barnet local authority is shown in the tables.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 Provision for children under five years of age in EnglandJanuary 2005 (final) in September, which is available on my Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000604/index.shtml.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(18) taken up by three and four-year-olds: Local authority-Barnet, position in January each year
		
			  3-year-olds 4-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(19) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools(20) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 1997 2,000 (21) 2,000 (21) (21) (22)3,500 
			 1998 2,000 (21) 2,000 (21) (21) (22)3,700 
			 1999 2,000 (21) 2,000 (21) (21) (22)3,800 
			 2000 2,000 (23)0 2,000 (21) (21) (22)3,600 
			 2001 2,000 (23)390 2,400 (21) (21) (22)3,700 
			 2002 1,900 (23)340 2,200 3,000 (22)590 3,600 
			 2003 1,900 (23)1,300 3,100 2,900 (24)700 3,600 
			 2004 1,800 (25)870 2,700 2,900 (26)580 3,500 
			 2005 1,800 (25)1,500 3,300 3,000 (26)660 3,700 
		
	
	(18) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(19) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(20) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(21) Not available.
	5 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(22) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(23) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(24) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(25) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(26) taken up by three and four-year-olds: parliamentary constituency-Hendon, position in January each year
		
			  3-year-olds 4-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(27) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers(28) Total 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools(29) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers(30) Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 2004 610 350 960 1,100 170 1,300 
			 2005 530 660 1,200 1,100 250 1,300 
		
	
	(26) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(27) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(28) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(29) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(30) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	Changes in pupil figures may arise from changes to the underlying population in the local authority area and other factors. However, my Department doesn't publish population figures for individual age cohorts at sub-national level because of the unreliability of the underlying population estimates. The Office for National Statistics publish sub-national population estimates in five-year age bands.

Learning Outcomes

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress her Department has made in consultation with professional interests in improving the transparency and recognition of learning outcomes (a) within the EU and (b) in the wider international community.

Bill Rammell: The Department for Education and Skills consults with professional interests in improving the transparency and recognition of learning outcomes on a number of EU initiatives.
	(i) Mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the regulated professions
	We are actively working with the regulatory authorities (statutory and professional bodies) to secure effective and timely implementation of Directive 2005/36/EC, on the recognition of professional qualifications.
	(ii) UK National Reference Point
	The UK National Reference Point for vocational qualifications was established in response to EU Council Recommendation 2001/613/EC. It provides information and advice to individuals, institutions and employers on matters relating to European vocational education and training systems, qualifications and certificates.
	(iii) Europass
	Council Decision 2241/2004/EC established a single Community framework for achieving the transparency of qualifications and competences by the creation of a personal, coordinated portfolio of documents to be known as Europass. Europass consists of the common European CV, the Diploma Supplement, Europass Mobility, the Certificate Supplement, and the European Language Portfolio. Each member state has designated a National Europass Centre (NEC) responsible for the setting up of an Internet site and information system; and providing an electronic link to the European Commission's website which contains the portfolio.
	(iv) NARIC
	The National Academic Recognition and Information Centre (NARIC) network was first established by the EU SOCRATES programme in 1995. The UK's NARIC gives independent information and advice on the comparability and mutual recognition of UK and international qualifications and promotes UK qualifications internationally.
	(v) Bologna Process
	UK participates fully in the Bologna Process, which includes more countries than the 25 EU member states. One of the key objectives of the Bologna Process is to make degrees more easily comparable. Ministerial communiqus have recognised the importance of learning outcomes in achieving comparability. The Bologna Process also recognises the important role that the NARIC networks have to play in recognition of degrees.
	(vi) Commission consultation on a European Qualifications Network
	The European Commission launched its Europe-wide consultation on a European Qualification Framework in July 2005. The European Qualifications Framework (EOF) is designed to act as a translation device to enable different qualification frameworks to be related to each other across national boundaries. The Department for Education and Skills launched a UK-wide consultation on this proposal on 2 September 2005. 153 organisations were alerted to the consultation, and responses were received from professional bodies and business organisations, trades unions, awarding/examination bodies, sector skills organisations, higher education institutions and a local authority.
	There are no similar initiatives in the wider international community.

Sex Offenders

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether any registered sex offenders have been approved by her Department to work in Wokingham local education authority schools.

Ruth Kelly: My statement and the accompanying report of 19 January set out clearly the Government's analysis of, and response to, issues concerning child protection and List 99, together with the action we are currently taking.
	My Department does not approve people to work in schools. These decisions are a matter for the employer having taken into account the relevant CRB check.

Teenage Pregnancies

Patrick McFadden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teenage pregnancies there were in Wolverhampton in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 7 March 2006
	In 2004, the under-18 conception rate for Wolverhampton was 60.8 per 1,000 young women aged 1517 (290 conceptions), compared to a rate of 66.3 per 1,000 (307 conceptions) in 1998the baseline year for the teenage pregnancy strategy. This represents an 8.3 per cent. fall in the under-18 conception rate in Wolverhampton, compared to an 11.1 per cent. fall in the rate in England over the same period.
	The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is making steady progress, with both under-18 and under-16 conception rates now at their lowest levels since the mid-1980s. However, we need to accelerate progress to achieve the challenging PSA target to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010. We will shortly be publishing a strategy document setting out our plans for improving performance during the next phase of the strategy.

Benefits (Torfaen)

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the Torfaen constituency have claimed (a) incapacity benefit, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) income support in each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the tables.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in the Torfaen parliamentary constituency
		
			 As at August each year: Number 
		
		
			 1997 7,300 
			 1998 7,100 
			 1999 7,000 
			 2000 7,000 
			 2001 7,000 
			 2002 7,000 
			 2003 6,800 
			 2004 6,500 
			 2005 6,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1998 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1997 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.
	
		Income support (IS) and jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants in the Torfaen parliamentary constituency
		
			 As at August each year: Jobseeker's allowance Income support 
		
		
			 1997 2,159 4,500 
			 1998 1,956 4,400 
			 1999 1,671 4,400 
			 2000 1,477 4,500 
			 2001 1,334 4,600 
			 2002 1,308 4,500 
			 2003 1,297 4,300 
			 2004 998 4,200 
			 2005 1,053 3,900 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Jobseeker's allowance figures are unrounded, income support figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. To allow for meaningful comparison across the time series, income support figures do not include pensioners; pensioner's claims were transferred to pension credit in October 2003.
	3. JSA figures are not seasonally adjusted.
	4. IS figures for August 1999 to August 2005 have been taken from 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, figures for August 1997 to August 1998 have been uprated using 5 per cent. case loads. JSA figures have been taken from the 100 per cent. unemployment claimant count using NOMIS.
	Sources:
	DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS), Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples and count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (including clerically held cases).

Disability Allowance (Peterborough)

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have been registered for disability allowance in Peterborough constituency in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 9 March 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many young people have been registered for disability allowance in Peterborough constituency in each year since 1997.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information requested is in the following table.
	
		Claimants of disability living allowance under age 16 as at August each year from 1997 to 2005 in the parliamentary constituency of Peterborough Thousand
		
			  All entitled cases 
		
		
			 2005 0.6 
			 2004 0.6 
			 2003 0.6 
			 2002 0.6 
			 2001 0.6 
			 2000 0.5 
			 1999 0.5 
			 1998 0.4 
			 1997 0.4 
		
	
	Definitions and conventions: - nil or negligible; . not applicable; caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Notes:
	1. Totals shows the number of people with entitlement to DLA, including those where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
	2. Parliamentary constituencies are allocated using the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	3. Figures are as at August of each year.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 5 per cent. samples for detail/long time series.
	I hope this is helpful.

Housing Benefits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of changing the housing benefit taper disregard for earned income only to (a) 30 per cent. and (b) 40 per cent.

James Plaskitt: The estimated cost of changing the housing benefit taper from 65 per cent. to 30 per cent. for earned income, and keeping it at 65 per cent. for all other income, is 1,050 million per annum.
	The estimated cost of changing the housing benefit taper from 65 per cent. to 40 per cent. for earned income, and keeping it at 65 per cent. for all other income, is 550 million per annum.
	Notes:
	1. The estimate is rounded to the nearest 50 million and is for Great Britain. 2. Earned income consists of income from earnings only, and excludes occupational pensions. For a couple, their earned income is their combined earnings. 3. This impact is estimated using the Department's Policy Simulation Model, which is based on data from the 200304 Family Resources Survey, up-rated to 200506 prices, benefit rates and earnings levels. 4. Results are subject to sampling and reporting errors and estimation assumptions, and are therefore indicative only. No behavioural changes are assumed.

Housing Benefits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of changing the council tax benefit income disregard for earned income only to 10 per cent.

James Plaskitt: The cost of changing the council tax benefit taper from 20 per cent. to 10 per cent. for earned income, and keeping it at 20 per cent. for all other income, is estimated to be 290 million per annum.
	Notes:
	1. The estimate is rounded to the nearest 10 million and is for Great Britain. 2. Earned income consists of income from earnings only, and excludes occupational pensions. For a couple, their earned income is their combined earnings. 3. This impact is estimated using the Department's policy simulation model, which is based on data from the 200304 Family Resources Survey, up-rated to 200506 prices, benefit rates and earnings levels. 4. Results are subject to sampling and reporting errors and estimation assumptions, and are therefore indicative only. No behavioural changes are assumed.

Incapacity Benefit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people living within (a) St. Edmundsbury borough council, (b) Mid Suffolk district council and (c) the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds were in receipt of incapacity benefit in each of the last 10 years.

Anne McGuire: Information broken down by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 1997. The available information is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in St. Edmundsbury borough council, Mid Suffolk district council and the Bury St. Edmunds parliamentary constituency areas
		
			 May St. Edmundsbury borough council Mid Suffolk district council Bury St. Edmunds parliamentary constituency 
		
		
			 1995 2,000 2,000  
			 1996 2,200 2,000  
			 1997 2,200 2,100 2,200 
			 1998 2,200 2,100 2,100 
			 1999 2,500 2,200 2,400 
			 2000 2,600 2,000 2,400 
			 2001 2,700 2,000 2,500 
			 2002 2,700 2,000 2,600 
			 2003 2,700 2,000 2,500 
			 2004 2,700 2,100 2,600 
			 2005 2,700 2,100 2,600 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The local authority figures from 1995 to 1999 and the parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1999 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Summed figures for St. Edmundsbury council and Mid Suffolk council do not represent total figures for Bury St. Edmunds parliamentary constituency.
	4. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disability allowance claimants including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Samples from 1995 to 1999 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.

Incapacity Benefit

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Putney constituency were receiving incapacity benefit in (a) 200102, (b) 200203, (c) 200304 and (d) 200405; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The available information on the number of people claiming incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Putney parliamentary constituency
		
			 As at August each year: Number 
		
		
			 2001 2,700 
			 2002 2,700 
			 2003 2,800 
			 2004 2,900 
			 2005 2,900 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are shown rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance cases, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Incapacity Benefit

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Putney constituency aged (a) 20 to 25, (b) 26 to 30, (c) 31 to 35, (d) 36 to 40, (e) 41 to 45, (f) 46 to 50, (g) 51 to 55, (h) 56 to 60 and (i) 61 to 65 years are in receipt of incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The available information on the number of people claiming incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants by age in the Putney parliamentary constituency: August 2005
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 All ages 2,900 
			 Under 20  
			 20 to 25 200 
			 26 to 30 200 
			 31 to 35 300 
			 36 to 40 300 
			 41 to 45 400 
			 46 to 50 400 
			 51 to 55 400 
			 56 to 60 500 
			 61 to 65 200 
			 66 and over  
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	2.  means nil or negligible.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Incapacity Benefit

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) male and (b) female incapacity benefit claimants there were in Putney (i) in total, (ii) broken down by age and (iii) broken down by category of claim in each of the past five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the tables:
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Putney parliamentary constituency; by age and gender
		
			  August 
			 Putney 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 All Persons 2,700 2,700 2,800 2,900 2,900 
			 Under 25 100 100 100 200 200 
			 2534 400 400 400 400 400 
			 3544 600 700 700 700 700 
			 4549 300 300 400 400 400 
			 5054 400 400 400 400 400 
			 5559 500 500 500 500 500 
			 6064 300 300 300 300 300 
			 65+  
			   
			 Women 1,100 1,100 1,200 1,200 1,200 
			 Under 25 100 100 100 100 100 
			 2534 200 200 200 200 200 
			 3544 300 300 300 300 300 
			 4549 100 100 200 200 200 
			 5054 200 200 200 200 200 
			 5559 200 200 300 200 200 
			 6064  
			 65+  
			   
			 Men 1,600 1,600 1,600 1,700 1,700 
			 Under 25 100 100 100 100 100 
			 2534 200 200 200 200 200 
			 3544 400 400 400 400 400 
			 4549 200 200 200 200 200 
			 5054 200 200 200 200 200 
			 5559 200 200 200 300 300 
			 6064 300 300 300 300 200 
			 65+  
		
	
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Putney parliamentary constituency; by gender and diagnoses group
		
			  All Persons Women Men 
		
		
			 August 2001
			 All Diagnoses in Putney 2,700 1,100 1,600 
			 Neoplasms 100   
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 100   
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,100 500 600 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 200 100 100 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 100  100 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 100   
			 Diseases of the Digestive System
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 400 200 200 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 300 100 200 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 100 100 100 
			 Other Diagnoses 300 100 200 
			 
			 August 2002
			 All Diagnoses in Putney 2,700 1,100 1,600 
			 Neoplasms
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,100 500 600 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 200 100 100 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 100  100 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 100   
			 Diseases of the Digestive System
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 400 200 200 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 300 100 200 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 100  100 
			 Other Diagnoses 200 100 200 
			 
			 August 2003
			 All Diagnoses in Putney 2,800 1,200 1,600 
			 Neoplasms 100   
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 100   
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,200 500 700 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 200 100 100 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 100  100 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 100   
			 Diseases of the Digestive System 100   
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 400 200 200 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 300 100 200 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 100  100 
			 Other Diagnoses 200 100 100 
			 
			 August 2004
			 All Diagnoses in Putney 2,900 1,200 1,700 
			 Neoplasms 100   
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases 100   
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,300 500 700 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 200 100 100 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 100  100 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 100   
			 Diseases of the Digestive System 100   
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 400 200 200 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 300 100 200 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 100  100 
			 Other Diagnoses 300 100 200 
			 
			 August 2005
			 All Diagnoses in Putney 2,900 1,200 1,700 
			 Neoplasms 100   
			 Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
			 Mental and Behavioural Disorders 1,400 600 800 
			 Diseases of the Nervous System 200 100 100 
			 Diseases of the Circulatory System 100  100 
			 Diseases of the Respiratory System 100   
			 Diseases of the Digestive System
			 Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 400 200 200 
			 Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified 300 100 200 
			 Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes 100  100 
			 Other Diagnoses 300 100 200 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2.  denotes nil or negligible
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement Allowance, including IB credits only cases.
	4. All diagnoses are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, published by the World Health Organisation.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Public Information

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on his Department's public relations and information services in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. Total figures are given in the following table.
	
		
			   000 
			 Financial year Public relations(31) Information services(32) 
		
		
			 200405 1,435 11,749 
			 200304 1,412 2,553 
			 200203 689 1,007 
			 200102 59 1,588 
			 200001  1,237 
		
	
	(31) Figures for public relations activity relate to promotion of departmental initiatives such as age positive, new deal, and disability discrimination awareness. The figures do not include the costs of advertising campaigns or running costs of the Department's press office.
	(32) Information services include the costs of websites and telephone lines directly related to raising awareness/encouraging action on departmental initiatives with the general public and other specific targeted groups. The bulk of the increased costs in 200304 and 200405 are accounted for by increased expenditure on the development of online services delivered through the Department's websites.
	Note:
	DSS/DFEE costs.

Business Support

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support his Department gives to small local businesses in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.

Alun Michael: The Department of Trade and Industry supports a comprehensive range of business support services in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. The first step in gaining access to these services is to contact the local Business Link which is part of a network providing services in every part of England. The Business Link network provides the information, advice and support that is required in order to start, to maintain and to grow a business and includes an award-winning national website.
	Business Link exists:
	To help anyone who is thinking of starting a business
	To help small and medium-sized businesses to grow
	To help businesses to deal with problems, challenges and opportunities.
	The Business Link service is a crucial part of the Government's campaign to promote enterprise and to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
	The local Business Link's office is Business Link Tees Valley. During 200506, Business Link Tees Valley received 1,441,979 from the core Business Link allocation. Business Link Tees Valley has used this funding to lever in significant additional fundscurrent estimates suggest that Business Link Tees Valley will deliver support and solutions worth 7,714,528 in 200506.
	Business Link provides access to the following DTI branded services:
	Selective Finance for Investment in England
	Knowledge Transfer Networksa grant to bring together businesses, universities and others with an interest in technology applications.
	Collaborative Grant for Research and Developmentfunding for collaborative R and D projects
	Knowledge Transfer Partnershipsa grant to transfer and embed knowledge into a business from the UK knowledge base via a strategic project
	Grant for Research and Developmenta grant to carry out R and D.
	Grant for Investigating an Innovative Ideasubsidised consultancy to help businesses to implement their ideas
	Support to Implement Best Practicea free diagnostic with subsidised consultancy
	Small Firms Loan Guaranteeencouraging commercial lenders to provide loans to businesses lacking security
	In addition to the aforementioned, the DTI provides additional specialist support such as:
	Manufacturing Advisory Servicesdelivers hands-on advice and assistance from experts in a wide range of manufacturing disciplines.
	UK Trade and Investmentsupports companies in the UK doing business internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to set up or expand in the UK
	In addition, the region's regional development agency, One NorthEast delivers its own business support in conjunction with Business Link Tees Valley. These are:
	Resource Efficiency Business Support Serviceaims to improve the resource efficiency of regional businesses, impacting on productivity and profitability through the efficient use of energy, water and materials. Delivered through brokerage, the service is supported with 1,650,000 of funding by One NorthEast to 200708.
	Flexible Skills Fundprovides 650,000 per year funding for SMEs, matched by business contributions to support accredited or non-accredited training at level 3 or above, linked to a business objective.
	Raising Skills in Tees Valleyproviding a package of support for businesses and individuals aimed at driving demand for skills and generating sustainable economic growth in Tees Valley.
	Tees Valley Area Tourism Partnershipcurrently in development. This provides a holistic package of support for tourism businesses in the region, encompassing business support in conjunction with Business Link branded services, product development and marketing support, and skills development. These significant catalysing activities will stimulate the tourism and hospitality sector in Tees Valley, generating sustainable growth in a key sector for the North East.
	Businesses and individuals in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland are benefiting from Business Link's support as the recent performance demonstrates:
	
		
			  Start-ups Established businesses 
		
		
			 200304 73 227 
			 200405 130 268 
			 2005-present (February) 183 331 
		
	
	In addition, businesses and individuals in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland have benefited from support, resulting in:
	1,097 jobs created or safeguarded
	866 businesses supported or advised
	7,423 people assisted in their skills development in Tees Valley since April 2005 as a result of sub-regional Single Programme investment.
	Throughout the region, an additional:
	11,520 jobs have been created or safeguarded
	10,089 businesses supported or advised
	55,043 individuals assisted in their skills development since April 2005
	As from September 2005, Business Link Tees Valley have spent 154,000 on providing 38 businesses with skills development training.
	Business Link Tees Valley also provides a Workforce Development events entitled 'Better People, Better Business' which attracted 41 attendees in February 2005 and 43 attendees in January 2006.

Fuel Prices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely average household fuel bill in December 2006.

Malcolm Wicks: Following the price increases announced by some energy suppliers in February 2006, energywatch have estimated the typical standard credit energy bill will be 527 for gas and 342 for electricity, giving a total bill of 869.
	Actual December 2006 bills will be affected by a number of factors, including the number of customers switching supplier and/or payment methods and future tariff changes from the energy suppliers.

Fuel Prices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the EU's Competition Commissioner on changes in fuel prices and the competitiveness of energy suppliers in the UK.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend's the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote to Neelie Kroes, the European Competition Commissioner for Competition in December to support a request from Sir John Mogg, head of OFGEM, for an immediate investigation into possible links between the lack of competition in EU energy markets and recent price volatility in the UK gas market.
	Commissioner Kroes agreed to undertake the investigation and we expect the results very soon.

Electricity Supply (Limavady)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006 to question 53489, on how many occasions payments have been made to consumers in the Carrowclare road area of Limavady in the last two years; and whether reasons have been established for the interruptions to electricity supply in that period.

Angela Smith: Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) has advised that no payments have been made to consumers in the Carrowclare road area of Limavady as a result of interruptions to their electricity supply in the last two years, as none of these lasted for a continuous period of 24 hours.
	Eight of the 16 interruptions to the electricity supply in the period were the result of birds striking an overhead electric line, and possibly also another four of the interruptions where NIE was unable to identify the cause. Of the remaining four interruptions, two were the result of third party damage, one involved planned work by NIE, and the other was the result of NIE equipment failure.

Emergency Calls

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many 999 callouts of ambulance personnel were found to be bogus in Northern Ireland during 2005.

Shaun Woodward: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service does not use the term bogus in this context. However, the following table lists the instances during 2005 where an ambulance response was stopped at some point during the call or where no patient was transported.
	
		
			 Reason incident stopped Number of incidents 
		
		
			 Caller hung up without details 1,985 
			 Hoax caller 4,301 
			 No case at scene 739 
			 Nothing found at scene 1,784 
			 Patient absconded 210 
			 Total 9,019

InterTrade Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the expenditure of InterTradeIreland is estimated to be for 200506; and what percentage is made up of (a) staff (i) salaries, (ii) expenses and (iii) pension costs and (b) other staff costs.

Angela Smith: The estimates of expenditure for 2006, InterTradeIreland's current operating year, are set out as follows.
	
		
			million Percentage 
		
		
			  Total expenditure 10.219 100 
			 
			 (a) Staff   
			 (i) salaries 1.400 14 
			 (ii) expenses 0.045 0.5 
			 (iii) pension costs 0. 082 1 
			 
			 (b) Other staff costs 0.095 1

Mussenden Temple (Londonderry)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Northern Ireland Tourist Board plans to promote and market the historic Mussenden Temple site at Downhill, County Londonderry.

Angela Smith: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) plans to promote and market the Mussenden Temple site at Downhill.
	This will be achieved through the development and promotion of tourism in the context of the Tourism Strategic Framework for Action 200407 and the Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism Masterplan.
	Currently the NITB is implementing recommendations from within the prioritized actions of the masterplan. A key recommendation is the implementation of the Causeway Coastal Route which has been identified as a primary promotional message/key motivator to attract visitors to Northern Ireland and specifically to retain them along the North Coast and wider region.
	This touring route will direct visitors to the North Coast and offer them the opportunity to visit attractions such as the Mussenden Temple.
	The Causeway Coastal Route has been included in all marketing initiatives for 2006.

Tourism

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much financial support was available to each regional tourism organisation in each of the last five years; how much of that support came from EU funds; from which EU funds it came; and what the budgeted figures are for the 200607 financial year.

Angela Smith: The table shows the total financial support made available to the 5 Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) and Sperrins Tourism from funding administered by Government Departments over the past 5 years.
	Funding for RTOs is not budgeted for within EU Programmes open for applications for financial support. Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has no plans to provide financial support to the RTOs in 200607, however a budget of 500,000 from core funds has been set to provide financial assistance to the four Regional Tourism Partnerships.
	
		Annex A
		
			  Grant awarded 
			  200102 200203 200304 200405 200506 Total 
		
		
			 Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau   
			 NITB support   
			 EU Peace II 4.2a(38) 338,446.68 396,000.00 1,682,803.87 802,437.26 1,135,471.09 4,355,158.90 
			 EU Peace II 4.2b(39) 81,625.00 81,625.00 
			 EU BSP l.3a(40) 79,200.00 80,800.00 80,000.00 100,000.00 100,000.00 440,000.00 
			 Total 417,646.68 476,800.00 1,762,803.87 902,437.26 1,317,096.09 4,876,783.90 
			
			 Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau   
			 NITB support   
			 EU Peace II 4.2a 107,974.74 93,626.80 90,672.45 80,010.45 94,320.00 466,604.44 
			 DFP Support   
			 EU Peace II 3. 1(41)   86,753.00   86,753.00 
			 Total 107,974.74 93,626.80 177,425.45 80,010.45 94,320.00 553,357.44 
			
			 Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism   
			 NITB support   
			 EU Peace II 4.2a 139,090.25 138,892.39 123,003.63 109,988.87 112,748.06 623,723.20 
			
			
			 Kingdoms of Down   
			 NITB support EU   
			 Peace II 4.2a 200,000.00 199,990.20 196,487.29 174,996.85 224,332.00 995,806.34 
			
			 Causeway Coast and Glens EU   
			 NITB support   
			 Peace II 4.2a 188,139.25 188,109.51 187,128.21 155,015.28 201,359.75 919,752.00 
			 Totals for the 5 RTOs 1,052,850.92 1,097,418.90 2,446,848.45 1,422,448.71 1,949,855.90 7,969,422.88 
			
			 Sperrins Tourism   
			 NITB support   
			 EU Peace II 4.2a 43,800.00 47,560.99 0.00 48,087.72 56,917.00 196,365.71 
			 EU BSP l.3a 30,000.00 37,000.00 30,000.00 30,000.00 22,500.00 149,500.00 
			
			 DFP Support   
			 EU Peace II 6.2a(42)  510,808.00510,808.00 
			 Total 73,800.00 595,368.99 30,000.00 78,087.72 79,417.00 856,673.71 
			
			 Totals for 5 RTOs and Sperrins 1,126,650.92 1,692,787.89 2,476,848.45 1,500,536.43 2,029,272.90 8,826,096.59 
		
	
	(38) EU Peace II 4.2aThe EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of IrelandPriority 4Outward and Forward Looking RegionMeasure 2aMarketing the Region as a Tourism Destination.
	(39) EU Peace II 4.2bThe EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of IrelandPriority 4Outward and Forward Looking RegionMeasure 2aEnhancing the Region as a Tourism Destination
	(40) EU BSP 1.3aThe EU Programme for Building Sustainable ProsperityPriority 1Economic Growth and CompetitivenessMeasure 3aTourism Strategic Marketing
	(41) EU Peace II 3.1The EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of IrelandPriority 3Locally-based Regeneration and Development StrategiesMeasure 1Local Economic Initiatives for Developing the Social Economy (NI)
	(42) EU Peace II 6.2aThe EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of IrelandPriority 6Technical AssistanceMeasure 2aManagement, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Programme and Co-ordination with other Programmes.

Unmanned Rail Crossings

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on (a) the improvement and (b) the maintenance of safety measures at unmanned crossing points on the rail line between Ballymena and Londonderry in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: Translink has advised that the following amounts have been spent by Northern Ireland Railways on improvements and maintenance at unmanned crossings between Ballymena and Londonderry.
	
		
			 
			  Capital works and improvement measures Maintenance Total annual expenditure 
		
		
			 200001 509 98,400 90,909 
			 200102 182,078 91,200 273,278 
			 200203 263,774 109,200 372,974 
			 200204 311,807 76,200 388,007 
			 200405 314,846 74,400 389,246 
			 Total 1,522,414

Graffiti

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what plans he has to extend the powers of local authorities to remove graffiti from (a) street furniture and (b) educational institutions;
	(2)  what plans he has to give local communities a formal mechanism to request and ensure that action is taken to remove graffiti.

Hazel Blears: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are keen to improve the accountability between the police, local authorities and other service providers and the public. The Community Call for Action provisions contained in the Police and Justice Bill will give more power to local communities and provide a mechanism for local communities to demand a response from agencies to persistent local community safety or antisocial behaviour problems, via an approach to their ward councillor. The Respect programme will ensure effective dialogue between local people and services by introducing regular and systematic face the people briefing sessions, involving senior representation from the police and local authorities. These sessions will provide a further opportunity for communities to make clear their priorities and to hold those responsible for service delivery to account.
	They will also allow senior staff to engage the community in tackling local problems, raising issues where they can take action to help combat antisocial behaviour, including graffiti. In addition to this, the Home Office, in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, is developing a new three digit single non-emergency number to provide the public direct access to community safety advice, information and action to tackle antisocial behaviour, including graffiti. The Government's commitment towards neighbourhood policing will benefit every area by 2008, enabling graffiti to be tackled as a priority when local communities identify this as one of their key concerns.

Local Government Restructuring

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was of restructuring local government in the Humberside county council area.

Phil Woolas: Information on the costs of restructuring local government is not held centrally. However, resources in the form of unsupported Supplementary Credit Approvals (SCAs) were available to reorganised authorities to meet the one off indirect costs of reorganisation. In the Humberside county council area these were as follows.
	
		
			   million 
			  Outturn 
			  199596 199697 199798 199899 Total to LA 
		
		
			 Humberside County Council 2.92.9 
			 Kingston upon Hull Council 3.08 3.45 2.3 2345 11.175 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire Council 3.454 8.0 1.989 4255 17.698 
			 North Lincolnshire Council 2.992 2.919 1.8 3465 11.176 
			 North East Lincolnshire 2.95 4.112 1.9 1578 10.540 
			 County Total 15.376 18.481 7.989 11643 53.489

Mobile Phone Masts

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the Department has paid to fund the study by the university of Reading and Arup on mobile phone masts.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The total cost of the research contract was 92,214 including value added tax. The Welsh Assembly Government contributed 4,000 to meeting the cost of the contract.

Planning (Thames Gateway)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what obligations regarding quality of design are placed upon (a) developers and (b) the construction industry in relation to (i) new buildings and (ii) urban areas in the Thames Gateway.

Yvette Cooper: Good design and quality in construction are essential in creating and maintaining quality places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. This applies across the country.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's policy in Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1) sets out general principles and policies for planning, and makes it clear that good design is indivisible from good planning. PPS1 needs to be taken into account by all planning authorities in the preparation of development plans and it may also be material to decisions on individual planning applications.
	Obligations are also placed on the construction industry through Building Regulation. These are based on functional requirements and it is therefore open to the industry to achieve these requirements using different design approaches.
	In terms of the Thames Gateway specifically, the ODPM has asked the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to carry out a piece of work, involving a wide range of stakeholders, looking at the identity of the Thames Gateway. This will establish a clear idea about the kind of place the Thames Gateway will be. It can then provide a direction towards which development plans can be orientated, ensuring consistently good design which fits in with and enhances the local surroundings.

Planning Blight (Compensation)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1628W, on planning blight (compensation), whether owner-occupiers are compensated for the loss of a scenic view due to public works.

Yvette Cooper: Under Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973, compensation may be payable for a reduction in value of land caused by the use of certain public works. This compensation is based upon the depreciation caused by physical factors: noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, artificial light and the discharge onto land of any solid or liquid substance. Compensation is not available for a loss of view.

Code of Practice Family and Post-mortems

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many breaches of the Code of Practice Family and Post-Mortems there have been in relation to the release of bodies to permit funerals within 24 hours to families of (a) Jewish, (b) Muslim and (c) Hindu faiths at (i) Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust, (ii) Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, (iii) Northwick Park Hospital and (iv) all London hospitals in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The requested information is not collected centrally. Local policies and action on individual cases are a matter for the trusts concerned.

Community Hospitals

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on plans to extend services provided by (a) community hospitals and (b) health centres in the area covered by the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority.

Caroline Flint: As stated in paragraph 25 of the recently published White Paper, Our Health, our Care, our Say: a new direction for community services, the Department aims to provide more care in more local and convenient settings. This will partially be achieved by introducing a new generation of community hospitals and other facilities, such as health centres, with strong ties to social care.
	However, decision making on specific local healthcare provision is a matter for primary care trusts and strategic health authorities in consultation with the local population. Therefore, the Department is not in a position to comment on local plans to extend services provided by community hospitals and health centres in Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority.

Doctors/Nurses (Recruitment)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to increase the recruitment of (a) doctors and (b) nurses.

Liam Byrne: The Government have substantially increased the national health service work force. Between September 1997 and September 2004, the number of doctors employed in the NHS increased by over 27,400 to 117,036 (23 per cent.) and the number of nurses employed in the NHS has increased by 78,659 (20 per cent.) to 397,515.
	Local employers are responsible for recruiting and retaining the health and social care work force they need to provide local services. The national strategies and tools are already in place to support trusts to recruit and retain staff, promote training and development and redesign their work forces.

Doctors/Nurses (Recruitment)

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacant nursing posts were unfilled, in each strategic health authority in each year since 1997 broken down by nursing specialism; and what assessment she has made of the reasons for posts remaining unfilled.

Liam Byrne: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities to analyse their local situation and develop plans, in liaison with their local national health service trusts and primary care providers, to deliver high quality NHS services and take action to recruit the appropriate staff required to deliver these services.
	Vacancy information for the non-medical workforce was not collected prior to 1999. Information on vacant nursing posts from 1999 to 2005 has been placed in the Library. There are 25 per cent. more nurses than in 1997; vacancy rates have fallen to 1.9 per cent.; and the number of students entering training each year has increased by over 10,000.

Domestic Violence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the access to GP services by families who have been involved in domestic violence in West Lancashire.

Liam Byrne: This is a matter for the West Lancashire Primary Care Trust.
	In January 2006, the Department published Responding to Domestic Abuse: a handbook for Health Professionals which updates the domestic violence manual, published in 2000, providing health care professionals, including general practitioners, with a framework for dealing confidently with women who may or are experiencing domestic abuse and a means to access support and advice. An electronic copy is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/66/19/04126619.pdf.

Dysfluency

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS speech therapists are employed in each (a) strategic health authority and (b) NHS trust.

Liam Byrne: The number of qualified speech and language therapy staff in England by Government office region, strategic health authority area and by organisation as at 30 September 2004 has been placed in the Library.

HIV

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the (a) efficacy and (b) availability of post-exposure prophylaxis following (i) sexual and (ii) occupational exposure to HIV; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The assessment and provision of specific treatments, including post exposure prophylaxis following sexual or occupational exposure to HIV, is a matter for local national health service organisations, which are best placed to assess and meet local needs.
	To support them, however, the Department funded the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health (MedFASH) to produce the Recommended Standards for NHS HIV Services, published in 2003. This states that: the NHS should make non-occupational PEP available to all who need it and develop protocols for provision.
	These standards were disseminated to primary care trust sexual health leads in England. The Department also published guidance on HIV post-exposure prophylaxis from the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers' expert advisory group on AIDS (EAGA) in June 1997, with subsequent updated versions in July 2000 and February 2004. EAGA is currently reviewing the 2004 guidance, which is available on the Department's website at: www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/eaga/publications.htm.
	The Health Protection Agency carries out surveillance of occupational exposure to blood-borne viruses in health care workers. The latest report is available on the website at: www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/bbv/s_report.htm.

NHS Finance

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much has been allocated (a) in total and (b) per capita for health spending in (i) Gloucestershire, (ii) West Gloucestershire primary care trust, (iii) Gloucestershire Hospitals Acute Trust and (iv) Gloucestershire ambulance trust in (A) 200506 and (B) 200607;
	(2)  how much has been allocated (a) in total and (b) per capita for health spending in (i) England, (ii) each county in England and (iii) each constituency in England for the years (A) 200506 and (B) 200607.

Liam Byrne: Revenue allocations are made direct to primary care trusts (PCTs). They are not made to counties, constituencies or national health service trusts. The information is not therefore, available in the format requested.
	Information on the allocations and the per capita funding for each PCT, including West Gloucestershire PCT has been placed in the Library.

NHS Organisations

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she made of the financial position of primary care trusts, foundation trusts and other national health service organisations before finalising levels of funding for local authorities for 200607.

Liam Byrne: The Government provide funding for adults' social services through both the overall formula rant allocated to local authorities by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and the specific revenue and capital grants allocated directly to councils from individual Departments. In respect of the 200607 and 200708 allocations, the attribution of adults' social care funding is based on brand new needs-based formulae for both the younger adults' and older people's service blocks. These formulae take also account of the effect of geography on pay and prices through the use of an area cost adjustment.
	While the Department is responsible for establishing overall social care policy, councils have a significant degree of flexibility to manage and direct their own resources according to local priorities and the needs of the communities they represent.
	Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs) on the basis of the relative needs of their populations. A weighted capitation formula is used to determine each PCTs' target share of available resources, to enable them to commission similar levels of health services for populations in similar need.

NHS Productivity

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on productivity in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: Figures published by the Department on 7 December 2005 in Healthcare Output and Productivity: Accounting for Quality Change showed that on average, national health service productivity increased by 0.8 per cent. a year, between 19992000 and 200304, the latest years for which figures are available.

Obesity

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were obese in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The main source of data on the prevalence of obesity among children is the Health Survey for England (HSE). The HSE supplies an estimate of the prevalence of obesity for 1997 to 2003 among children aged between two to 15 rather than to specify the actual number of children who are obese.
	The results in the table show obesity prevalence for children by sex, aged two to 10, 1115 and two to 15. The 2003 data which are presented are the most recent available.
	
		Obesity prevalence for children, by age and sex, England , 19972003 (National BMI percentile classification): Children aged 2 to 15 Percentage
		
			 Obesity prevalence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Boys
			 2 to10 77.7 11.4 76.7 72.2 73.5 75.2 14.9 
			 11 to 15 75.6 16.3 76.9 18.8 18.8 19.8 20.4 
			 2 to15 72.7 13.0 16.4 14.5 15.5 16.9 17.0 
			 
			 Girls
			 2 to10 70.7 11.8 13.0 11.8 12.7 15.8 12.5 
			 11 to 15 76.2 17.5 15.2 18.1 17.7 19.2 21.9 
			 2 to15 12.4 13.8 13.7 14.2 14.5 17.1 16.1 
			 
			 Bases (weighted)
			 Boys
			 2 to10 2,007 1,336 633 570 1,035 2,364 876 
			 11 to 15 1,056 645 343 306 618 1,381 533 
			 2 to15 3,063 1,981 977 877 1,653 3,745 1,410 
			 
			 Girls
			 2 to10 2,082 1,216 628 523 1,094 2290 897 
			 11 to 15 987 656 322 318 605 1346 547 
			 2 to 15 3,069.004  1,872 950 841 1,699 3,636 1,444 
		
	
	Notes:
	Prevalence based on the UK National BMI percentile classification. Bases have been weighted for non- selection.
	Source:
	Health Survey for England. Department of Health

Practice-based Contracting

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will ensure that effective (a) training, (b) support and (c) guidance is provided to all general practitioners to enable them to use practice based contracting to maximum benefit for patients; and what assessment she has made of the level of resources necessary to achieve such provision.

Liam Byrne: To maximise the benefits of practice based commissioning (PBC), the Department has resourced and put in place a comprehensive programme providing training, support, and guidance material for general practitioners (GPs) and primary care trusts (PCTs).
	As part of this programme, the national primary care development team will be providing training and support to PCTs and GP practices. In addition, a number of other professional bodies will be supporting their members with PBC these include: the National Association of Primary Care, NHS Alliance, General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association, NHS Confederation, and the Royal College of Nurses. Further details of the support programme are available in Annexes A and B of the publication Practice based commissioning: achieving universal coverage, which is available on the Department's website at: www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/74/25/04127425.pdf.
	The Department has also published guidance specifically for clinicians. This includes the document Practice based commissioning: early wins and top tips published in February 2006, which contains tips to support PBC and suggestions as to how it can be used to redesign care pathways. This publication is available on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/12/82/74/04128274.pdf and it has been issued directly to all GPs.

Sexual Health

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if the 300 million made available for improving sexual health services in 200607 and 200708 through the Choosing Health White Paper will be ring-fenced; how the spending will be tracked; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2005, Official Report, column 263W, on genito-urinary clinics, what steps she is taking to ensure that the additional investment of 130 million goes directly towards improving genito-urinary services and infrastructure in 200607 and 200708.

Caroline Flint: It is for primary care trusts (PCTs) to determine how to use the funding allocated to them to commission services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations. PCTs and strategic health authorities (SHAs) will receive funding for implementing the targets in the White Paper Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier in their mainstream allocations and we will be monitoring the outcomes through the local delivery plan data lines from this investment. The revenue allocations separately identify funding to support the implementation of Choosing Health. This funding is not ring-fenced. A copy of the White Paper is available in the Library.
	Sexual health is one of the top six priorities for the national health service in 200607. In particular, by 2008 everyone should be offered an appointment within 48 hours of contacting a genito-urinary medicine clinic. SHAs have submitted plans to meet this target. This increased priority for sexual health should significantly strengthen the incentive for local investment and service modernisation.
	In addition, a letter has been sent to SHA chief executives highlighting that when considering any savings from implementing Commissioning a patient led NHS savings should not be identified from those posts working on implementation of choosing health. This includes posts in frontline services.

Smoking

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the Government received from the Better Regulation Task Force on restriction of smoking in workplaces.

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of (a) the Better Regulation Task Force's (BRTF) response to the proposed regulations and exemptions relating to the smoking ban set out in the Health Bill and (b) other written comments made by the BRTF on the Bill.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 11 November 2005
	The Government took into account advice from the better regulation task force (BRTF) in deciding on the smokefree provisions of the Health Bill.
	The BRTF is an independent body, set up to advise Government on action to ensure that regulation and its enforcement comply with the five principles of good regulation. The Government, through the Cabinet Office, sponsors the BRTF but does not speak for it.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much of the agreed efficiency target for her Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review is to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent;
	(2)  what total efficiency savings were achieved by her Department in 200405; and whether these count towards the agreed efficiency target for her Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review;

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what baseline figures she is using for assessing progress on her Department's targets to (a) make better use of (i) staff time and (ii) NHS buying power, (b) ensure NHS organisations can share and rationalise back office services and (c) improve commissioning of social care; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets.

Jane Kennedy: Our efficiency technical Note, first published in October 2004 and updated in December 2005 confirms that at least 50 per cent. of our 6.5 billion target should be cashable. Cashable efficiency savings have not been allocated to specific national health service budget headings.
	In our autumn performance report published in December 2005, we confirmed that 1,031 million of savings were achieved in 200405. These savings do contribute to the 2008 target in line with the commitments made in the Gershon Report, Releasing Resources to the Front Line and confirmed in the 2004 Spending review settlement.
	The efficiency technical note sets out the specific measurement processes, indicators and their baseline dates for calculating efficiency gains. There are over 30 separate processes and indicators appropriate to the different types of efficiency gains. Baseline dates for all efficiency measures are March 2004.
	The 2005 autumn performance report summarises efficiency savings achieved by work-stream to September 2005. The total saving up to this date was 1,709 million.

Working with Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals who are on the sex offenders' register are currently working in the (a) NHS, (b) social services departments and (c) children's services departments.

Liam Byrne: The responsibility for carrying out pre-employment checks, including Criminal Records Bureau, Protection of Children's Act and Protection of Vulnerable Adults checks where applicable, rests with the relevant employer whether an national health service organisation or social services department or other regulated provider of health or social care. The NHS is required to follow the guidance, Safer Recruitment issued in May 2005, which covers all the pre-and post-appointment checks that NHS employers are required to make before appointing anyone, including employees, volunteers, students, trainees, to a position in the NHS. In regulated social care, we expect providers to comply with regulations on pre-employment checks made under the Care Standards Act 2000, which came into force in April 2002.
	Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 replaced Part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 and Schedule 3 to the 2003 Act came into force on 1 May 2004. The act requires convicted sex offenders to report each year to their local police and inform the police if they change their name or address within three days instead of the previous 14 days.